President Donald Trump‘s continuing desire to name parts of the world after himself or the U.S. almost made it to the oceans.
During a rally in South Carolina, Trump told supporters he had called Google CEO Sundar Pichai to ask about changing the name of the Atlantic Ocean on Google Maps.
“I only like two oceans: The Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. I’m not going to put either Trump or America on any other ocean but these two, so we seriously looked at the Atlantic Ocean, and I called Google Maps, who were really great with the lake,” said Trump. “I said: ‘Sundar, I’m thinking of the Atlantic Ocean.’”
Trump claimed the Google boss responded, “No, no, no. This time I’m not doing it. Oceans are different, sir. They cover a lot of countries. Please don’t ask us to do that.”
Trump’s “proposal” now appears to be on the back burner. “So I’ll probably pass. Should I pass it?” the President asked his supporters. “I think let’s keep it the Atlantic Ocean.”
The “lake” Trump referenced was Lake Ontario, which Trump has renamed Lake America amid the trade war between his administration and Canada.
Google Maps currently displays the water as ‘Lake Ontario (Lake America)’ and also uses the same phrasing for the Gulf of Mexico.
Trump has also pondered renaming the Strait of Hormuz, writing on social media last month: “Should we change the name Hormuz Strait to TRUMP STRAIT??? Like America itself, it would be ‘hotter’ than ever before!”
South Park recently lampooned Trump’s ongoing name-change drive by renaming the show South America for its 29th season.
